


Speak to me

by eisneRiegan



Category: Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken | Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword
Genre: Budding Love, F/M, Light-Hearted, borderline fluff maybe, start of a relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:40:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24573946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eisneRiegan/pseuds/eisneRiegan
Summary: Hector is disturbed and annoyed by the fact that the female tactician Eliwood hired won't talk to him
Relationships: Hector/Tactician (Fire Emblem)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	Speak to me

**Author's Note:**

> A little indulgent story for my very first FE game and my very first ship lol. I know the Tactician can't support them like they do in recent games...
> 
> Can't think of a name for the female counterpart of Mark so...she's just "Tactician" and I'll let you fill in the name for her

"You're still mad?" The blue haired lord asked the reticent tactician that his best friend had hired to look for his missing father.

They haven't been travelling together for long. After their battle in Santaruz, the tactician has been glaring at him silently from behind Eliwood.

Or Marcus.

Or Matthew.

Or Oswin.

Or anyone who happens to be taller than her.

She hasn't said anything about why she's mad at him after the battle.

Until Matthew told him the reason: he was carelessly handling the bottle of explosive given to them by a strange old woman, rushing to defeat the enemy and almost dropped it when everyone was nearby.

It could have severely injured everyone.

Not to mention he swings his axe around carelessly.

He almost took out Guy's head with it, if Matthew didn't step in to stop him and recruit the said Sacaean swordsman into their group to spare him.

Now, they're on their way to Laus after letting the merchant Merlinus to join them.

She hasn't spoken to him at all since they met.

He's sure she's not mute, for he had seen his companions talking to her on a handful of occasions.

If Matthew hadn't told him the reason why she's mad for what had transpired several weeks ago, he would have thought she's just intimidated by him or something.

And so he tried to approach her many times to apologise, to no avail.

Eliwood is always talking to her, consulting with her with strategy.

Or Marcus going over some strategies with her that he's surprised that existed outside of Lycia.

Or Matthew just taking her out for a stroll in town they happen to be in, to do some shopping for their inventory.

(She's really good with handling money, Hector noted.)

It's only now that he finally had time to corner her on their way to Laus.

Everyone is busy pitching up their camp while the tactician sat by a nearby boulder to rest her aching feet and a little pout on her lips.

For all her strategic genius, money handling and the long time she's been travelling, she sure is frail.

By now, she should have gotten used to all the walking under the sun or stars, be it a good weather or not.

That was his thinking, until he saw her walking boots.

They were worn down, the soles almost nonexistent. There were tiny holes at the seams near the arch of her boots, which to the untrained eyes is almost invisible due to their size.

He had to slightly harass Merlinus to look into his wares quickly earlier if he can find a nice pair of walking boots for the tactician and paid him graciously, though he had to warn the merchant not to tell anyone.

Hector, upon offering the boots to her as apology, only sat there next to her as she stared at her new boots.

And waited for like five minutes before he asked again.

"Hey...are you... Still mad?"

The tactician looked up at him, pursing her lips.

Hector sighed. "Okay, okay... I won't force you to talk to me. Just... Don't throw these boots. I bought them for you. Noticed that you have a hard time walking distances lately."

She continued to stare at him then looked back down at the gift.

"Well...I..." Hector started again but faltered. Clearing his throat, he stood up. "Well, I'm sorry if I kind of ticked you off at Santaruz. I won't do it again. So...uh...yeah. Well. Enjoy your rest. I'll...go help them out there or something..."

He trailed off, placing a hand behind his neck to rub it uncertainly before walking away.

Matthew then sidled up to him as soon as he's out of earshot of the tactician.

"Well, that's unexpected behavior." The thief commented, grinning at his liege.

"Oh shut up, Matthew." Hector told him, pushing him away slightly.

"Why? It's the first time you ever gifted to a woman. Lord Uther is going to be thrilled."

"No, my brother is going to laugh at me. He'll probably have tears in his eyes from it, and a belly ache. And be gassy."

"Mmhmm...I doubt Lord Uther would do that but if you say so..."

"Not a word to anyone, Matthew. Not even to my brother. Or I'll skin you."

Matthew made a zipping motion across his lips and made an ok sign to him, putting his other hand over his heart.

Later that night, Hector took the first watch. He sat down on a log nearby and gazed at the stars out of boredom, before he heard a rustling behind him.

Alarmed, he whipped around and saw the tactician standing there who stopped dead on her tracks when he turned.

She puffed her cheeks innocently as she stared at him wide eyed.

"What are you doing?" Hector asked her with a slight scowl. "You should be resting."

She shrugged at that as she visibly relaxed and walked over to him. Hector scooted over the log to give her space to sit down.

He noticed she's wearing the boots he bought.

He smiled at that sight, and somehow that made him a little giddy.

"So, why are you sneaking up behind me?" Hector asked her idly.

Not like she's gonna speak to him like she does with the others.

It made him feel left out but he's getting used to it. Not many women would want to be associated with a lout like him, even though he is Marquess Ostia's younger brother and heir.

He watched her look down at her hands and fiddled with her fingers.

The slight shift in her feet made Hector wonder what's going on inside her head.

Maybe he should ask Eliwood how to translate her actions.

Or Matthew and Serra, since they worked with her a year ago with Caelin's problem.

The tactician then reached inside her pocket and extended her hand to him.

Curious, Hector took whatever she was holding.

It was barely three inches of a quick wood carving of an owl.

It still has that rough texture where the blade had carved through, but it's actually nice to the touch.

"You made this for me?" He asked her, inclining his head in question.

She looked away, seemingly embarrassed as her cheeks and ears were a bit pink, though it's hard to tell with the low fire.

Hector smiled at that, as he looked down at her wood carving.

She's actually good with her hands too. And good thing to know that she actually carries a knife with her to do some whittling like this.

She's useless in an all out battle but at least Hector's relieved to know she knows how to handle a small blade and protect herself if ever she gets separated from any of her designated bodyguard.

"Well...thank you. This is the first time someone ever gave me a gift they made." He told her simply.

She nodded her head at that in acknowledgement, puffing her cheeks slightly.

Hector leaned forward on his elbows, looking at her.

"Since you seem to have a problem sleeping, let me ask you something while you're still in a good mood. Why are you refusing to let me hear your voice?" He asked her. If today's all about him asking her things, might as well ask the important ones.

She frowned at him, as if he's stupid.

She cleared her throat, her eyes narrowing slightly, and opened her mouth.

Though no sound came out.

Instead, Hector had to rely on his Ostian spy upbringing to read lips.

"Sore throat." She mouthed at him.

"Oh..." Hector said softly, realization dawning on him.

No wonder the others don't let her talk for long durations, always filling in her silence or translating her expressions.

"How long have you had that? Isn't having one for long duration dangerous?"

She made a motion with her hand.

 _On and off_ , her gesture said to him.

Hector stared at her.

"You know the secret language?" He asked her incredulously.

She shrugged, making another gesture.

 _Matthew taught me a year ago_ , she said. _And he said I have a weird accent. I don't know what he means by that_.

Hector struggled to take that all in.

That little thief!

That's only taught to Ostian spies and their cohorts, not to innocent civilians like her!

He took a deep breath to calm himself.

Well... It's fine. At least she knows other means to communicate.

Eliwood knows a bit of it too, so maybe that's how he's translating things.

"Can't do anything about it, I guess." He sighed. "Going back to your sore throat... Do you take medicines?"

She nodded.

"Have you considered having that checked up by a doctor?"

 _It's just allergies_ , she gestured. _Probably the pollens from the garden in Santaruz._

"It's been a long time since we left Santaruz." He pointed out.

 _We passed by a flower glade recently didn't we?_ , she gestured at him while frowning.

"Right..." Hector mumbled. "Well, you should sleep properly and take your medicine on time."

 _Yes mother_ , she signed with a resigned tone.

"Hey, don't take that tone with me."

 _Yes mother_ , she signed again.

"If only you weren't a woman, I would have already got you in a headlock and gave you noogies." Hector said with a straight face.

The tactician stuck her tongue out at him before standing up and bidding him goodnight.

Alone once more, Hector idly rolled and touched the carved owl in his hands.

Well, at least they're on speaking terms.

Sort of speaking terms.

And she's very quirky, unlike his first impression of her being bland or too serious.

He could feel it's a start of a good relationship between the two of them.

"That exchange almost look like a good relationship budding between the two of you, Milord." Matthew said as he popped out of a nearby tree.

"Matthew, for heaven's sake." Hector grunted.

"What? You didn't think I'd let that exchange pass when I know she looked for the nicest stick to make that owl for you?" The thief frowned at him, crossing his arms. "She never give away stuff she whittled. I wanted one as souvenir last year. I couldn't even steal from her bag."

Hector narrowed his eyes at him, making Matthew hold up his hands in defense.

"You could've affirmed that she does have a weird accent." He pouted at his liege. "She thought I was just nitpicking..."

**Author's Note:**

> ×Spy sign language : heavily inspired by the Drasnian sign language


End file.
